The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

It really sucks right now if you're an Edmonton fan. One game away from winning a Stanley Cup, and a lot of their key players are already gone.

Obviously, losing Chris Pronger is a huge blow to the team. Fans were quick to point fingers at his wife for forcing Chris out of playing for a small Canadian city, but whether or not that's true is no one's business but his own. The Oilers were classy enough to grant Pronger his wish, and actually Edmonton made a good trade, acquiring upstart forward Joffrey Lupul, another prospect and a few draft picks including a first rounder. But they still have to fill a void, and with Jaroslav Spacek bolting for the Sabres as well, they'll need to sign another veteran blueliner to solidify their defensive corps.

Not sure why the Leafs signed Pavel Kubina for $5 million a season. This guy has played almost 600 games and his stats reveal a horrible -99. Toronto needs help in their own end, and this guy doesn't solve that problem. They should have pursued Jay McKee from Buffalo, who is terrific killing penalties and is tops in the league in blocked shots. It's possible he already told the Leafs he doesn't want to play for them. Goalie Andrew Raycroft was a huge disappointment in Boston last season but Toronto obviously think a change of scenery will bring him back to his Calder Trophy winnning season; bets are off for that happening.

Vancouver robbed Florida of goalie Roberto Luongo, and unloading Todd Bertuzzi and his contract was a smart move. Some say this will give Bertuzzi the motivation to play again, but in my view not playing hockey for 18 months is motivation enough. I expect Vancouver to be aggressive in retaining Anson Carter, as they will need to find a winger to play with Naslund and they can't afford to lose another veteran forward. Although a lot of people saw it coming, Ed Jovanovski leaving for Phoenix still confuses me. Vancouver needs a bonafide #1 D, they don't seem to have that player now in my view.

So much action over the last few days it's hard to keep track. I've found myself going back to tsn.ca plenty of times to remind myself where certain players sign, but that's what makes you look forward to next season.

p.s. I saw that Tyler Arnason signed with Colorado and Patrick Lalime signed with Chicago. I'll just say good luck with that.